Study finds psychological cause for motorcycle accidents

November 18, 2013

By: EIN Presswire

EIN Presswire- Researchers at Texas Tech University examined the ways in which a particular
object's size can affect a person's ability to perceive its distance.

In recent years, the U.S. has experienced a reduction in the incidence of serious
accidents involving cars and small trucks. Unfortunately, however, the number of motorcycle
accidents has increased over the same period. Although a variety of factors contribute
to the occurrence of motorcycle accidents, a new study suggests that drivers' failure
to correct for a quirk of human psychology may contribute to causing accidents in
some cases.

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Researchers at Texas Tech University examined the ways in which a particular object's
size can affect a person's ability to perceive its distance. Their study, published
recently in the journal Current Directions in Psychological Science, found that small,
close objects can sometimes appear to be farther away than large, far away objects.
The team suggests that this may contribute to drivers' inability to accurately gauge
motorcyclists' speed and distance, which in turn can lead to serious accidents.